Contents

Synopsis

May finally arrives in Gardenia Town ready to win her fourth ribbon. She gains a nice surprise when she finds out that her Eevee has learned Dig. While May prepares for the contest, Brock meets another Pokemon Breeder named Yuma. After seeing his Pokemon skills, she convinces him to enter the Gardenia Contest. After amazing appeals by Squirtle and Bonsly, both May and Brock make it to the battle rounds. Will May be able to beat her friend to win her fourth Kanto Ribbon?

Plot

In Gardenia town, May will participate in another Contest. She sends Eevee and Brock compliments it. May is now sure to win that ribbon with Eevee. A girl goes to get signed on the Contest with her Raticate, but does not know where. The heroes go look for Eevee, who got lost. Eevee comes to May, though the girl falls down from the sudden appearance. The girl is okay and asks where she should sign, so Brock points at the large building where inside will the receptionist sign the girl on. May tells Eevee it will go in for the first time in the Contest as well, but wonders what Eevee did when it ran off. Eevee shows her - it knows how to dig. May is happy Eevee learned a new move just before the contest.

Brock sees a girl approached him, so he blushes and flirts, though the girl was referring to Bonsly. The woman is Yuma, remarking Brock as a breeder - she knows the difference between a Pokémon raised by a coordinator and a breeder - breeder cares for health and the coordinator the appearance of Pokémon. Brock sends his Marshtomp and Forretress. Yuma remarks the Pokémon being in great shape and Brock tells her it is the secret recipe of the food he made. Yuma thinks Brock should enter the Contest. She was a Coordinator and even won the Grand Festival. Her secret are the breeding techniques. May wants to know as well, but Yuma disagrees, as her students are only beginners and the fact May is a great Coordinator. Brock hears her words and runs to the building and comes back with the Kanto Coordinator's card, promising to get the ribbon.

Jessie places down a box full of ribbons. Jessie says she cannot be a Coordinator, she does not have a costume. So, she used James' bottle caps to make the ribbons, making him cry in despair. Before the contest, Brock confesses to May he feels excited and nervous and May thinks she feels the same. First is the girl the heroes met before. She sends Raticate and throws a log, to which Raticate uses Hyper Tooth rip the log in pieces. Next is May and sends Squrtile. Squrtile first spins, then uses Bubble to make a bubble pyramid. To finish, Squrtile uses Ice Beam to freeze the bubbles, making a magnificent sight.

After other performances, Brock comes, looking nervous. Brock sends Bonsly, who uses Fake Tears first. The judges are impressed, including Nurse Joy, so Brock flirts with her, but the announcer pulls his ear. To make up for the mistake, he tells Bonsly to prepare and throws a baseball, with Bonsly stopping the ball. He throws more balls and Bonsly juggles them with Flail. The crowd is amazed, though May realizes Brock may be tough to handle. Team Rocket have set the shop and trade things. The screen displays the 8 contestants. One of them are May, Brock and the girl the heroes met before. Next, the screen displays the battles. May is against an unknown one, while Brock with the girl.

May says Brock might be able to get to the finals. Ash, Max and Yuma come. Brock tells Yuma he is doing this one for her. Yuma remarks May's abilities. Brock tells May he was nervous, but when the crowd was cheering, Brock gained confidence and made it to 2nd round. Brock thanks Yuma for advice. Yuma asks Brock if he will study with her. Next are the contest battles. The girl sends Absol and Brock his Marshtomp. Absol starts with Razor Wind, but Marshtomp evades. Absol follows with Quick Attack and Marshtomp uses Mud Shot, forcing Absol to slip down the ground. Ash asks Yuma if she wants to study with Brock if he loses. Yuma replies it does not matter, as she wants Brock so she can learn his breeding skills. Marshtomp defeats Absol with Water Gun.

After the other Contest battles, Brock and May face each other. Max is confused, as he does not know for whom to cheer, but Ash tells him to cheer for both of them. May sends Eevee and Brock his Marshtomp. Eevee uses Shadow Ball, but Marshtomp protect itself. Marshtomp uses Mudshot, but Eevee digs. Marshtomp goes to the ground and senses Eevee approaching. Eevee goes to attack, but Marshtomp pushes it away with Water Gun. Marshtomp uses Mudshot and Eevee dodges, but it is affected by the mud and falls down and Marshtomp tackles Eevee. Eevee uses Shadow Ball, but Marshtomp cancels it with Water Gun and Marshtomp tackles Eevee once more. Marshtomp goes to tackle again, but Eevee digs. Still, Eevee comes out and Marshtomp tackles it again.

Eevee digs again and again, but it misses. Marshtomp uses Mudshot to plug the holes. Eevee goes to tackle, but Marshtomp cancels it with Water Gun, resulting in Eevee falling in mud. Marshtomp pushes it further with Water Gun. May orders Eevee to go to the rocks unaffected by the mud. Marshtomp uses Water Gun, but Eevee goes on the water and tackles Marshtomp. Marshtomp uses Water Gun, but misses, so Eevee uses Shadow Ball, hitting Marshtomp. Marshtomp uses Mudshot, but Eevee dodges and tackles it. Eevee uses Shadow Ball and Marshtomp Water Gun to cancel the attack. The time went out and the winner is May. Brock thanks Marshtomp for that battle. May got the Gardenia Town ribbon for winning the Contest. Later, Yuma tells Brock is a fine Coordinator and takes the little girl as her student. Brock is sad for that fact. Ash tells him he needs practice, but Brock yells he needs romance instead. At that night, Team Rocket earned a lot of money and Jessie plans to use that money to become the top-coordinator.

Trivia

私、負けない！ 〜ハルカのテーマ〜 I Won't Lose! ~Haruka's Theme~ was used as an insert song for the second time.

The baseball scene was a parody of the sports anime/manga, Star of the Giants (巨人の星).

Team Rocket narrates the next episode preview.

Lilian pulls Brock away from Nurse Joy in this episode.

The English title is a reference to the title of a song of the same name from the musical A Chorus Line.

Many minor characters from previous episodes can be seen on the scoreboard.

Errors

After Brock directs Mollie to the registration desk, Max remarks about this Contest being her first, just like Eevee, but Mollie never revealed that information.

While May is holding Eevee, the shading on her shirt suddenly disappears.

When Brock offers some of his special Marshtomp PokéBlock to Yuma, the PokéBlock was just normal Pokémon food.